Three key Arab states on Sunday took a historic step towards actual economic integration that can be a long-sought model to strengthen ties between Arab nations.
The industrial partnership signed by the UAE, Egypt and Jordan will surely transform the economic sphere in the region by focusing on the industrial sector, the backbone of any economy. As part of the agreement, a $10 billion investment fund, managed by Abu Dhabi’s holding company ADQ, has been allocated to boost the new partnership and invest in key industrial projects.
The partnership “reflects the ability of the countries in the region to strengthen their relations and launch new projects and industries within the framework of an integrated industrial system that provides promising opportunities for future generations,” Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs noted after witnessing the signing of the landmark agreement.
UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Dr Sultan Al Jaber said the ambitious partnership “will lead to the creation of industrial opportunities worth billions of dollars by identifying joint industrial projects in the future, focused on creating world-class competitive industries with the highest standards of quality, especially in priority sectors.”
Priority sectors
These priority sectors include food, agriculture and fertilisers; pharmaceuticals; textiles; minerals and metal; and petrochemicals. The three countries’ combined industrial capacity represents nearly 26 per cent of the total industrial capacity of the Middle East and North Africa.
Moreover, the three nations enjoy modern logistical infrastructure, including airports, ports and strategic transport corridors such as the Arabian Gulf and the Suez Canal. More than 50 per cent of the total population of these countries are young, around 122 million, a potentially a vibrant and sustainable workforce.
The development of the industrial sector in these countries, through this partnership, will empower industrial growth in the strategic pursuit of diversifying the economy, creating much-needed job opportunities, and increasing the industrial sector’s contribution to their GDP as the bloc’s exports increase.
The partnership also, strategically, represents a new regional model of integration through such collaboration projects, which will certainly create new growth, sustainable development and prosperity in the Arab world. The UAE has already announced plans to double the contribution of the industrial sector to its GDP to Dh300 billion by 2031.
This type of strategic cooperation is a principle of the UAE’s regional and global relationships, which has proved its success in the past five decades. As we look forward to the next 50 years, these partnerships will be an important boost to the nation’s sustainable growth.
